Digital Marketing Mastery: Insights, Strategies, and Tactics for Success

Monthly Archives: August 2013

What are the Best Social Media Sites for SEO?

LinkedIn Logo
Logo for LinkedIn

Just a few years ago SEO and social media simply coexisted. But over the last few years the line between the two began to blur. Now more than ever the major search engines use social signals as part of their ranking algorithms. In web marketing today an effective SEO strategy will be incomplete without incorporating into it the social aspect of the Web 2.0 which is built around the social element to begin with. And on the other hand, an effective social media strategy will be contributory to the SEO initiative. It is important for the two to work together in order to achieve higher rankings in the SERPs, increase site traffic and of course increase the ROI for a business. Over the last few years there have been several giants in the world of social media; but recently there have been some changing of the guard. Here three top social media platforms that should be part of any social media strategy used in an SEO campaign.

rand seo

How to Brand a Site

A company brand is a symbol which represents the business. In one respect it is meant to represent the characteristics, associations, and experiences of the business in one abstract form. It may be a logo, phrase, sound…; but a brand is designed so that it makes people who see or hear it think about the company and what it represents to them. When it is done well, a brand image can keep consumer’s mind on your particular products, services, quality, value, size, market position or whatever else might matter between the company and the individual. The way the company web site is designed will represent what consumers should be able to expect out of the company, their product or service. An online presence should be open, honest, up-front and transparent. Branding your website is about constructing a very concise, neat online personality and applying it consistently across the site as well as across the web.

Web Site Consistency

Your brand is more than just a logo with a tagline; it represents you and everything about your business to consumers. When branding a site, it is important to reinforce the image of the brand throughout the web site. Make sure to be consistent in style, or design. A logo should be positioned in the upper left hand corner of each page since this is where a visitor’s eyes tend to go first. Don’t oversize the logo; but don’t make it so small that it is difficult to identify. Use images that are reusable in order to optimize the site’s speed. In order to successfully brand your site, it will have to be memorable to site visitors.

branding business

What is Branding?

Before children can read a single word, they know that there is food nearby when they see the golden arches. This is an excellent example of successful branding. It may be a jingle, a logo or a slogan that makes an individual think of a particular company; but branding is all about building that type of association between consumer and business.

What is Branding?

A brand offers consumers an image or idea about a certain product so that they can associate it with the company. Branding can take many different forms but in general it is marketing an idea or image that makes the consumer identify it with a product or service. What do you think about when you see the golden arches? It is likely a Big Mac. Branding is about building brand recognition, building a good business reputation. It is a very important aspect of web marketing as it helps to develop a company’s reputation such that there is more revenue. To the business person, successful marketing means when an individual sees their brand anywhere they immediately identify it with the company. It is not so much about just getting potential consumers to see the company, but more about getting them to see the company as a solution to their problem.

Blogging for Business

Fresh Fruit
Fresh Content Basket

The various social media platforms can be exceptional tools for marketing, this includes the blog. Maintaining a business blog can yield many different benefits for the business if it is handled correctly. Blogging can keep the website from going stale as well as provide a platform to interact with consumers. Content creation is one of the main components of blogging and it must be done regularly in order to have an impact on a search engine optimization campaign. Blogging can be used in conjunction with a website, or it can be maintained off site. Either way, maintaining a blog can help establish the company name across the internet. A business blog can provide a small business a chance to share their expertise in their own niche or industry.

Producing High Quality Content

One of the most important aspects of blogging is that the company gets to produce their own voice. It can be an essential part of developing trust between the business and the client. However, it is very important to note that the content on a blog needs to be high quality and informative. One way to develop this is to make the blog into an education center in order to answer all the questions that your clients may have about your products or services. Although blogging is a marketing tactic, the language should be more informative rather than sales pitchy. Maintain an archive so that readers have plenty more articles to look at for examples and always give a call to action by inviting the readers to learn more. These strategies will help keep them engaged with the site, the blog and ultimately the business.

Do I Need a Blog?

There are many different strategies that make up a successful SEO campaign, and blogging is just one of them.  A blog offers a platform which can be used to write on virtually any topic. There are about as many different varieties as any one person can imagine. A blog can offer an effective way to increase site traffic as well as providing a better user experience for visitors. The benefits of maintaining a blog by far outweigh the work that goes into it; and there are many benefits.

Connecting with Consumers

Even though there are a lot of blogs that are written about life from a personal perspective, a blog can be a beneficial tool for the business person. It can offer a great way to connect with consumers who are interested in your product or services. Not only can you provide much in depth information about your products, you can receive valuable feedback from consumers which can help you rethink many of your business techniques. Another benefit is that of improved customer service. Many times consumers will look through your website looking for answers to their own questions. By blogging on the main issues and posting them on the main company website consumers will be able to quickly find the information they need which can help reduce the number of calls and emails made to the support center. When blogging is done correctly it can be a tool used for increasing the number of new clients as well.

Using Social Media for Business

 

Social Media
Business Social Media

Social media marketing is a very powerful tool for today’s business. While tweeting, blogging and posting updates on social sites can tend to be fun; these actions when used strategically can be part of an effective web marketing campaign. Many ask if there is anything to be gained by using social media and of course the biggest question is if there is a substantial enough ROI. When it is used properly, social media marketing can be effective and improve your bottom line. Social media is no different than any other marketing tactic; it’s all about strategically setting goals and using social media activities to reach them. Where most people get tripped up is in thinking that there will be an immediate return which is not likely. Social media marketing involves long term strategizing which will help keep a company’s name or brand on the mind of consumers. There are some strategies to help ensure a social media marketing campaign is productive.

What is Search Engine Optimization?

If you were to call up 50 SEO advisors and ask them to define search engine optimization, you are likely to get nearly 50 different interpretations of an SEO definition. This is because many people who state that they are an “SEO specialist” just offer two or three aspects of SEO strategies. They found a couple of things that work to help site rankings and use them. But there are not very many SEO specialists who really offer a comprehensive approach to search engine optimization. It is well worth the expense to hire an SEO specialist who knows what they are doing and can effectively launch an SEO campaign that will incorporate a broad range of strategies into a customized campaign for each client.

What is SEO?

In simple terms, search engine optimization is the use of a wide variety of strategies and methods which will ensure that a website will rank high in the search engine result pages (SERP). By using several proven SEO strategies a website can achieve higher rankings in the major SERPs when a user enters certain keywords or phrases into the search field. To offer an example, think about your own last internet search. When you, or someone else, are looking for a product or information it is likely that they entered a search in a search engine because it is one of the fastest and easiest ways to obtain the information. Once you enter a query and the results are displayed, it is likely that you never went past the first page because they were more relevant to the search. This is the goal of SEO. A website is optimized so that when a related query is entered the site will rank as high as possible. The end goal is to obtain more traffic to the site which of course leads to more conversions or sales. When an SEO campaign is carried out properly it will place a site at the top of the rankings so that it will gain instant credibility with the audience you are trying to reach.

Blogging for SEO

One of the first questions an SEO specialist is likely to ask a potential or future client is if they have a blog or not. Content writing is one of the most intrinsic components of developing an SEO campaign today and many are finding that maintaining a blog is one of the best methods to generate fresh content and generic links for their site. The search engines will rank every web page and each post on a blog is an extra web page that can be indexed. This gives even more opportunities to target the main keywords as well as using some of the coveted long tail keyword variations. Not only does a blog help provide content which can be indexed by search engines, it can also help establish you as a knowledgeable authority in your industry. Blogs can be a major component of a social media campaign. This proves that content can be and should be promoted using social media platforms. But then of course it is important to note that not all blogs are created equal. What should a blog have to be a huge contributor to an SEO campaign?

A Professional Look

Of course SEO is more about the written content that a blog contains than about the appearance of the page. But remember that your goal in maintaining a blog is not simply to please the search engines; you do have human readers after all. When designing the blog it is important to remember that the reader will evaluate the blog by what they see when they land on the page quicker than what they will read. Actually, it the page is disorganized and the layout is difficult to navigate it is likely that they will not read the blog at all. Using a free template will create a better appearance for the blog but it is far better to have a professional design it and customize it for your brand.

What is a Short Tail Keyword?

SEO Rank
SEO elements

Keywords are an essential part of search engine optimization but it is very important to know how to use them effectively. One of the responsibilities of the SEO specialist is to conduct comprehensive research to determine which relevant keywords they should use for web marketing campaigns. Once the keywords are revealed they will be used in a wide variety of marketing strategies including content, blogs, ads, titles, and other forms of marketing media. Keywords can be a critical part of obtaining a high ranking in the search engine result pages. Each SEO campaign must start with extensive keyword search along with analysis to identify the most relevant and effective keywords to be incorporated into the campaign. During this research, the SEO professional will find two types of keywords: short tail keywords and long tail keywords. Each of these plays a different role and can have a major impact on an SEO campaign.

Tips for Marketing a Local Business

Google Local Pages
Google Local Page

There are online businesses and offline businesses. Operating an offline business, or a brick and mortar business does not indicate that a web presence is not needful. Actually, in today’s competitive market, it is necessary to have a website as well as a web marketing campaign in order to succeed. The average customer will go to the internet first when looking for a business in their area whether it is a restaurant, contractor, professional or a supply store. If we think about it, for the brick and mortar customers are going to be coming from their own backyard. For this reason, it is imperative that businesses have a local marketing campaign. There are several ways to market a local business using online resources. Here are a few tips for building a successful local marketing campaign.

Local Search Platforms

Make sure that you claim your business in the local directories provided by the search engines. Google+ is the biggest local search platform, but it is well worth it to register with Bing Local as well as Yahoo! Local Listings. This is a strategy that can drive business your way. Everything that is listed with Google+ and Google My Business is indexed by the crawlers through Google search engines. Make sure that these pages contain correct information. It is important to claim local pages in the search engines and then build a good listing. The search engines will help to guide you through the verification processes.